The gang and the cursed girl - Christmas special!
by Claudia.wolf
Summary: Hiya! I'm planning on realeasing a part each day of the vacation but there are four day's I'll not be home. So I doubt that on 22-12 untill 26-12 I'll be able to post anything but if i have the chance I certainly will! This special is about the gang I usually work with and a little peculiar young girl named Viola.
1. Chapter 1

**The gang and the cursed girl – Christmas special!**

 **Part one**

Our story begins on a sad note, for you see it starts with Viola and not with the gang.

Allow me to explain.

On a cold winter night deep within a lonesome mountain lived a small girl.

Her name was Viola Lockwood.

The girl was only seven years old and had no family left..

She was chased out of her home town by villagers who accused her of witchcraft.

In fact, they were the reason why her family was gone..

They accused not only her but also her entire family of witchcraft.

But the question is, is a young girl really that dangerous?

Viola in particular was a kind child, she wouldn't harm a fly..

She has cute golden ponytails and an adorable smile, that's not a witch..

If she had the chance she'd only use magic for the good in the world..

Her purple eyes sparkled of hope..

Well at least they used too..

She tried to go back to her village but each time they'd chase her out.

She even tried going to different villages, which at first was a success!

But eventually they'd always cast her out, after noticing strange happenings.

It was almost as if bad luck followed her and corrupted everything she touched.

So instead of trying to find herself a worm home and a nice family.. she was left to die in the harsh winter weather.

She was lucky to have found herself a cave deep within a lonesome mountain.

However in order to get there she had to cross a dangerous frozen over lake.

I say dangerous because the ice hadn't fully materialized yet..

No grown up could cross it, which was exactly why Viola had gone there.

She figured that the towns folk would come after her.

The thought of the angry villagers not being able to reach her made her feel slightly safer.

Although she missed a warm bed and food.

She missed having her mother tugging her into bed, while her dad read her a story.

She enjoyed the story of the white rabbit and the black wolf the most.

How in the end, the black wolf managed to earn the white rabbits trust and the two finally became friends.

She missed her older sister, who always played with her and helped her combing her hair.

She missed their dog that had run away after their house got burned down.

She had everything in her happy life but now, that was all taken away.

It was taken away by them… those villagers..

Viola couldn't bare the thought of ever returning there.

She just wanted to be left alone, so that no one could suffer her curse any longer..

No one but herself.

She sat there.. alone.. freezing.. crying..

Viola was left all alone, in exposure of the dangers of the wild.

Somehow she found a way to survive for quite some time.

But as the Christmas day's grew closer, so did the cold.

This winter in particular was very harsh..

I'd think we'd better go to a warmer perspective don't you think?

Let's see what the gang is up to..

The group of friends which I have been referring too live together in a nice cosy home.

The house isn't all that big but it was surely good enough for the gang.

Lindsey was just preparing dinner with Jack's help since he wanted to.

Meanwhile Mark and Emily were playing video games.

Micheal and David on the other hand were buying some tickets as a Christmas surprise.

Until Lindsey called everyone for dinner.

It didn't take long before the whole gang was gathered at the dining table.

They were laughing and talking for a long time while eating their dinner.

Everyone was in a good mood since it was almost Christmas!

They talked and laughed some more after dinner.

Until it became so late that Jack had fallen asleep on the couch.

They finally decided to call it a night.

They all went to their warm and cosy beds.

The guy's shared a room and so did the girls, like I said it isn't a big home but it's enough for them.

They still had an empty attic and a basement full of David's alchemy and chemistry projects.

Each bedroom however did have their own bathroom, and those rooms were pretty luxurious.

Everyone fell asleep rather quickly.

Emily as usual had another strange dream.

Even though it felt real Emily could still tell that she wasn't really there.

She was walking in a frozen winter land forest, but didn't feel the cold.

It was so pretty, with snow everywhere and even some ice hanging from the trees.

She dreamt that Mark was with her, the two were throwing snowballs at each other.

Until eventually Emily ran, she ran and ran with a smile on her face.

Mark was chasing her in a playful way, all the while they kept throwing snowballs at each other.

Emily ran until she found herself at a frozen lake.

She stopped as she saw a stunning mountain in the distance.

She let herself catch her breath again before carefully placing her foot on the ice.

Mark was still looking for her and hadn't seen that Emily was now standing on the lake.

When he finally did though, Emily had already walked a couple of meters.

"Mark, c'mon! You can stand on the ice! Let's check out that mountain!" Emily said while waving Mark over.

"I don't know Em! It can be dangerous! Just come back here and let's find the others!" He responded.

"Ow come on, does the water scare you?" Emily said teasingly.

"Not funny Em! You know I hate the ocean and other deep water places!" Mark responded.

"Well it's either that or you'll have to go back to the others." Emily said as she wondered further onto the ice.

The snow was starting to fall faster, it got to the point where you could call it a snowstorm.

Emily turned back to see if Mark followed her, but she saw nothing due to the blizzard.

"Mark?!" She yelled out, but to no avail.

Then she decided to continue anyway since Mark had probably already left.

Once turned back however she was suddenly in a cave made of ice.

The cave let deep within the mountain.

She looked around her and the snow had lessened.

She could see the forest in the distance, it was a stunning view.

Then she heard sobbing.

She turned around to look at the sobbing person.

Once she turned back however, she was back in her own bed.

She had woken up..

She saw the others standing in the room, staring at her in shock.

Emily noticed she had tears going down her cheek, however she did not know why.

Did she somehow notice her own sobbing while sleeping?

"Em, are you okay? We uhm… heard you screaming in your sleep.." Mark asked.

"...I'm….fine.." Emily responded, she sounded confused.

" _Why did I wake up crying… My dream wasn't even that sad or scary.._ " Emily thought to herself.

"Sis, are you sure? You don't sound very sure.." Micheal said while having a worried expression.

It took Emily a moment to respond. "Y..yeah, uhm I'm sure!"

"Well.. alright then.. me and Linds are going to make breakfast. If anything is wrong you know we're here for ya sis." Micheal said while going downstairs.

Lindsey followed him and Jack, David and Mark went back to the guy's room.

That was a first that Micheal and Lindsey both worked together to make breakfast.

The two usually dodge each other.

But since it was almost Christmas they promised to be or at least act a bit closer.

In truth they actually had a crush on each other but they kept denying it.

So finally it was the time of the year that brought everyone closer.

The others found that a great opportunity to bring Linds and Micheal closer.

The two could actually work together pretty good, but of cause denied that.

After they had made breakfast they called the others downstairs.

Mark and Jack raced each other to the table while David and Emily casually walked downstairs.

Lindsey and Micheal put the final items on the table, while the others took their seats.

Jack was laughing at Mark since this time he won the race.

Lindsey and Micheal also took their seats, which surprisingly was next to each other.

Emily was sitting in her brothers spot next to Mark, so that Micheal had to sit next to Linds.

Lindsey and Micheal were blushing the entire time, which only got worse when they both attempted to grab the same item and their hands touched.

Emily and Mark on the other hand were to nervous to even move or eat much.  
Jack and David had to hold their laughs in, since it was obvious to them what was going on.

" _The morning starts off perfect!_ " They thought.

When everyone was finished with their breakfast David had an announcement.

"Guy's I arranged a winter vacation for us! We're going to Pine forest! It's gonna be awesome! We're going there tomorrow and there is lots of winter themed activities there! Like: ice skating, skiing, snowboarding, mountain climbing and even just exploring the winter nature there!" He said.

Everyone was very exited, they had never been to Pine forest before.

Or crystal mountain that lay deep within the forest.

In front of crystal mountain was a lake called: Portwitch lake.

They called the mountain, crystal mountain because if you go inside the icy caves it's completely made of ice! And that ice reflects the light from outside so sometimes it even looks like the walls and ceiling are glowing.

The gang pretty much immediately grabbed their stuff and put everything on the ready for the next day.

"How long are we actually staying there David?" Jack asked.

"Well the whole week! But we have to get back on the second day of Christmas since our family's will come over. So we have until then!" He said.

So that day they just talked about all the stuff they were going to do.

Lindsey, Jack and Micheal wanted to go ice skating, while Emily wanted to explore the forest first.

Micheal didn't want his little sister to go alone though, so naturally Mark and David had offered to go with Emily and explore the woods.

Mark figured it might also be spooky, which really appealed to him.

And David was kind of curious himself.

So the day went by smoothly and it soon became evening.

Emily was making dinner this time and her cousin Jack wanted to help again.

So he could watch and learn.

It didn't take them long to finish dinner and soon the gang was at the same table again.

This time Micheal was fast enough to claim his own spot.

The evening went by so fast.

They had a lot of fun and again went upstairs to sleep.

Everyone was exited for the next day!

The day they were going to explore Pine forest and it's activities.


	2. Chapter 2

**The gang and the cursed girl – Christmas special!**

 **Part Two**

The night seemed pretty normal at first until Emily yet again was plagued by a dream.

This time she was in a cave, but it was so dark that she couldn't see a thing.

She also noticed that she was a lot smaller than usual..

As if she was a child again..

Emily then heard a voice calling out.

"Hello? Anyone there?" It was a man's voice.

Emily then heard a child's voice coming from her before she even tried to respond.

"H-help!...Please help me..." The child's voice sounded weak.

Whoever Emily was seeing the point of view from, she felt sorry for..

"Don't worry! I'm coming!" The man's voice called out.

Luckily someone was about to rescue the child.

Then Emily saw a man approaching as his flash light was becoming more visible.

Then she heard the child's voice gasp as she started stumbling backwards.

" **It's you!** " The man yelled out in an angry tone.

"N-no! Please! Don't do this! Stay away!" The child yelled back as she started running deeper into the cave.

"Damn demon! I will have your head!" The man yelled as he started running towards Emily/the child she saw the dream from.

The child started running.

She ran and ran until she found a small space behind an ice wall.

She waited, as the man came closer and closer to her hiding spot.

Until she could see his outline in the icy wall.

The poor child's breathing became heavier as she felt the fear of being found by that man intensify.

If the man would walk two feet further he would have seen the child instantly.

Her breathing started becoming louder as sobs also filled the caves.

Meanwhile in real life Em was crying in her sleep again.

She could feel the child's fear and sadness it seemed so real..

As if Emily really was that child.

Lindsey had woken up to Emily's heavy breathing and sobs.

"Em! Em wake up!" She yelled while trying her best to wake her up.

But Emily couldn't wake up, not yet!

She just had to know what would happen to the child!

Lindsey ran to the guys room and woke them up.

"Guy's! Guy's! Wake up!" She yelled while shaking her brother.

"Sis… it's too early… go back to bed..." David responded.

"But guy's! It's Em! She has another nightmare!" Lindsey said with a worried expression.

"Again? Didn't that become less after we went on our last investigation?" David asked.

"I thought so too, but apparently they're becoming more frequent again!" Lindsey responded as she ran back to the girl's room.

The guy's followed soon after, while still in their pyjama's.

Meanwhile Emily's dream continued.

The child was crying and breathing too loudly.

"Where are you?!" The man yelled so loud that it jump scared both Emily and the child.

Luckily for the child, her sobbing and breathing was echoed throughout the cave.

The man couldn't hear exactly where it was coming from.

He was franticly looking through the cave.

"Come out of hiding! Damn Witch!" He yelled.

"Go away!" The child yelled back, it was strange..

Her voice was echoing more than it should have..

The man was confused and so was Emily.

" _How can a voice echo so much? Was it just because of the weird shape of that hidden space? Or was it a trick of the cold air that blew into the cave?_ " Emily thought to herself.

" _Well what ever it is, it's at least keeping the child hidden.. for now.._ "

In the meantime, the gang tried their best to wake Emily up.

But she just had to know what would happen with the child..

Emily could hear a voice other than the man or the child calling out to her..

But it was to vague for her to figure out who it was.

Of cause, it was the voice of one of her friends desperately trying to wake her up.

"Em! Emily! Wake up!" Mark said as he tried to wake her up.. even his voice didn't come all the way through.

Emily only heard half of the words he spoke.

She was too involved with what was happening to the child.

The man was still rampaging through the cave, ever so close to where the child hid.

The man walked in front of the ice wall again.

His outline was again seen through the ice.

The girl in a panic, looked behind her to see if she could escape.

There was a soled wall of ice behind her, it was a dead end.

The girl looked back at the man, his hand was now on the ice wall..

He was peering through the ice..

The child gasped in horror as she stubbled backwards.

Then suddenly she was behind another ice wall..

As if she went through the dead end.

She could see the man enter the hiding spot she was at, at first.

He looked around.

And then yelled out: "We will find you! Just you wait witch! I'll tell the others that you are hiding here!"

And with that the man finally left.

The child walked through the wall again and was back at her hiding spot.

But this time Emily stayed where the girl last stood, she was finally in her own point of view again.

Then the child turned around, Emily could only make out her outline.

She was small and she had two pigtails.

The child then spoke..

"Help… You can hear me can't you? Wake up! You have to wake up! Emily..." Her voice then started to fade as Emily was pulled further away from the child by an unseen force..

"Em! Wake up! Come on sis! Don't let me throw this water on you!" Micheal's voice became more clear as Emily's dream faded away.

"! What?! Where?! ….ow morning guy's..." Emily said as she jumped awake after a bucket of ice cold water was thrown at her.

"Em finally you're awake!" Mark said as he could almost hug her.

"Sis, you're nightmares are getting out of hand again!" Micheal said.

"Sorry to worry you guy's.. It will get better I promise!" Emily then answered while whipping her tears away.

"Well today is the day that we're going to pine forest so I think it will help clearing your mind!" Jack said.

"True! Now that we're up anyway maybe we can make breakfast already and then head out! The earlier we get there the better, right?" David said with a smile.

So the gang went downstairs and ate their breakfast.

Not long after that everyone had gathered all their belongings that they wanted to take with them.

They pretty much sprinted to their car.

David was driving since he knew the way, Mark was sitting next to him.

While Emily and Jack were sitting way in the back, so Lindsey didn't have any other choice but to sit next to Micheal.

During the whole road Lindsey and Micheal didn't dare to speak much.

And when they did it would end up in both of them awkwardly blushing while not even daring to look at each other.

Emily and Jack were trying their best to hold their laughs in.

At one point Jack started playing a video game to distract himself from laughing.

While Emily could hold her laugh pretty well due to her motion sickness.

Luckily it wasn't that bad yet.

Mark and David were focussed on reading the sings and figuring out where to go.

It went pretty smoothly, they only had to turn back a couple of times in order to drive in the right direction.

Pine forest wasn't a very easy to find place since it was very remote and there was only one long road leading up to it, but finding that road was quite a challenge.

Eventually they found the road and drove it for a couple of hours.

Until they finally saw the building where the reception and hotel were at.

They drove to the parking lot and could already see the snowboarding and skiing tracks.

Behind all the buildings and tracks they saw the large forest with the foggy outline of a mountain.

"This is it guy's!" David said as he found a spot to park his car.

It was surprisingly easy to find a spot, there were barely any other cars.

It was very quit for the time of the year.

But since it was so remote they didn't think much of it.

They exited the car and entered the lobby.

A kind woman was at the registration.

"Hello and welcome to the Pine hotel! My name is Noel Swinter! If you need anything I will be the person you can go to!" She said.

David went up to her and talked with her a bit.

She gave him the keys to our rooms.

Two persons had to share one room.

Jack already made the order of who slept where.

"Okay! Micheal, Linds! You two share one room! Em and Mark share a room and I'll just stay with David!" He said with a big grin.

The others couldn't really complain since they were too exited to go and explore the area.

So they went to their rooms and dropped of their stuff.

Micheal and Lindsey were in for a shock once they had entered their room.

There was only one king sized bed, meaning they had to sleep in the same bed.

They instantly became red at the thought of that.

Meanwhile Mark was very happy with the fact that he and Emily also had to share a king sized bed.

Emily didn't really know what to think..

She kinda felt sorry for Mark because she always fights in her sleep.

Jack and David were relieved to see that their room had two separate beds.

So after they were done with checking their rooms out, they went to the lobby.

There David received a map from Noel and showed it to the others.

"This is it guy's.. let's enjoy this week!" David said happily.


	3. Chapter 3

The gang and the cursed child – Christmas special

Part three

"Okay guys this is it! Let's explore everything today!" David said.

And thus the gang went to explore the area.

Eventually Lindsey found the ice skating building.

She really wanted try it out and surprisingly so did Micheal.

They both pretty much ran inside.

"Don't worry David, I'll keep a close eye on them." Jack said as he followed them inside.

"That's the part that worries me." David said.

Emily and Mark both laughed.

"Ouch David... mean much." Jack yelled while the doors of the building closed.

"Ahahaha, he had it coming, oh well. Are you guy's ready to explore the forest?" Emily asked.

"Heck yeah!" Mark enthusiastically said.

David also agreed that he'd really want to see that forest.

So the three entered the park that let to the forest.

The forest was beautiful, a snow over pine forest..

I guess that's why it is called Pine forest.

Of cause pine trees weren't the only trees there but they were most common.

There were even some trees that looked like as if they were made of ice.

They even spotted some animals, like deer's and even a snowy owl.

At one point Mark spotted a squirrel.

He loves squirrels so much that he always ends up chasing them.

This time was no different.

He followed the squirrel and started running faster and faster to the point that Emily and David had trouble keeping up.

Eventually David got distracted by a voice and took his eyes off of the running duo.

He was distracted long enough for the other two to disappear into the huge forest.

Once David looked back he failed to see his friends anywhere.

He panicked and started running into the direction where a pair of footprints let.

Unfortunately since it was snowing the footprints soon faded.

Meanwhile the other three entered the ice rink and were trying their best not to fall.

Jack had already fallen a couple of times.

Lindsey surprisingly didn't yet.

And Micheal was even more surprisingly naturally gifted.

After a little bit Jack also got the hang of it.

However he still fell from time to time.

Just when he thought he fully got the hang of it, he fell again.

This time he fell against Linds and she in term slides across the room.

Until she couldn't keep her balance any longer.

Lindsey felt herself falling over, but just when she was about to hit the floor Micheal caught her.

He helped her back up but in a failed attempt she tried to stand on her legs too soon..

Lindsey fell again but this time landed on Micheal's chest.

"Are you alright?" Micheal asked in a soft tone.

"I'm fine... t-thanks.." Lindsey said while blushing.

He helped Lindsey back up.

The two stared at each other awkwardly.

Then Jack ruined their moment by jump scaring them.

He popped up behind them and put his hands suddenly on their shoulders.

"Sorry guys! That was funny though! Hahaha!" He laughed.

Micheal and Lindsey couldn't help but laughing too, Jack's green hair was covered in ice.

Those three had a lot of fun that day.

Meanwhile somewhere in the forest.

"Mark stop running! The squirrel is already gone!" Emily yelled.

"But I want to hug it!" Mark yelled back.

That's when Emily got enough of running, she stopped and leaned against a tall three.

She was out of breath and decided enough was enough.

"You go on ahead then! I'll just find my way back to the hotel!" She yelled.

"What?! No! I won't let you walk back on your own! Besides I have no clue how to get back." Mark said as he walked back to Emily again.

"…..uhm… where's the path?….." Emily asked, she knew how to get back but only as long as they were on the path.

"I thought you knew..." Mark answered.

"Mark! How can I keep track of our surroundings when I have to keep my eyes on you?! You were running way to fast! You know what this means right?" Emily said.

"Oh sorry… and no.. what does it mean?" Mark said as he shrugged.

"It means we are lost." Emily said while her expression seemed a lot like this -_-

"Oh…. Well that's not good….. hey wait a minute… I think we forgot something." Mark said.

"Not something but someone… where's David?" Emily responded.

The two looked at each other and both started to get a scared look on their faces.

They started yelling David's name in the hope that he's hear them.

"DAVID! Oh man… Linds is gonna kill us if she finds out we lost her brother..." Mark said.

"I can already feel the frying pan knocking us out Mark…." Emily responded.

Mark was even more scared now and he even climbed a tree to try and get a better view.

"And?" Emily yelled from below the tree.

"I think I see a clearing without any trees! I say we check it out!" Mark replied.

And thus the two lost friends waked into the direction Mark pointed out.

While on the other side of the forest David had finally found his way back to the path.

"Emily?! Mark?!" He yelled as he also tried to reach them.

" _Micheal is gonna kill me if he finds out I lost his sister and that she's probably alone with Mark somewhere.._ " David thought to himself as he also seemed scared.

After a while he heard the voice again.

As he came closer he noticed it were actually two voices.

"Are you sure it was her?" One voice asked.

"I'm positive! I know what I saw! I know what I chased!" The other voice replied.

"Uhm excuse me? I'm kinda lost… can you tell me which way the pine hotel is?" David asked as he finally saw the two man talking.

They turned around towards David.

"Hey, new in town eh? Don't worry pal! Just follow this route and you should find your way back!" One of the man said, he had a small greyish beard and dark eye's.

"Thanks a lot! Also.. did you happen to see two other people of my age out there? I kind of lost my friends..." David asked.

"No, we didn't see anyone else around your age.. but we kind of patrol the woods so if we find them we'll guide them back!" The other man said.

"Thank you! I'd appreciate it!" David said. "Anyway, I should get going.. then I can explain to the others what happened so they won't be too worried.." He continued.

And thus David returned to the hotel and saw the other three waiting outside.


	4. Chapter 4

The gang and the cursed child – Christmas special

Part four

"Guys! Hey!" David yelled as he saw the other three waiting.

"Bro! Where are the other two weirdos?" Lindsey asked.

"Uhm about that…. Micheal please don't kill me… I lost sight of them.." David reluctantly answered.

"Lost sight of them? How? How can you lose a crazy squirrel fanatic and my weird comedian sister?" Micheal asked.

"Mark saw a squirrel and ran after it. Em and I tried to follow him… and I got distracted… But I met two locals who patrol the forest and they said that they'd keep an eye out..." David explained.

"So do we wait here? Or go looking for them?" Jack asked.

"I say we wait here, they went off the path so if we go… I'm afraid we'd most likely also get lost. Besides they are bound to find their way back eventually." David answered.

"Mate.. my sister is out there with Mark… They are doomed." Micheal answered.

"Have faith cousin, if anything it's a good thing that Emily is with Mark, otherwise he'd never find his way back." Jack said.

Micheal sighed. "True.. alright fine. We won't do anything rash and we'll just wait it out."

"Good! We can tell the lady at the desk what happened! Maybe she can send some other people to go look for them! And then we can check out that restaurant and wait there!" Jack suggested.

"Good thinking Jack!" Lindsey said as she gave him a pet on his shoulder.

And thus they went to the desk and explained their situation.

After she had phoned some rescuers up the gang went to the restaurant that Jack had mentioned.

Apparently it happened quite often that people got lost in those woods, since the park itself had rescuers working there.

Why don't we go back to the other two, our lost little lambs.

They were walking into the direction of a clearing in the hope that it was their ticked out.

From time to time, Mark or Emily would climb a tree to see if they were still on the right course.

It was a pretty boring walk, all the animals had disappeared and all the trees started to look the same.

But they kept on walking through the woods, since they still had to find their way back.

Until the clearing was pretty close, about five minutes away.

"Hey Mark?" Emily asked.

"Yeah?" He reacted.

"I'll race you there!" Emily said with a big smile.

Mark grinned and chuckled. "Alright! Let's go!"

"Last one at the clearing is an idiot! And has to make Linds hit them with her frying pan!" Emily said as she and Mark both started running.

It was a good drive to run as fast as they could, no one wants to get hit by Lindsey's frying pan.

But unfortunately they were both idiots already.

They failed to realize that running is what got them separated from David in the first place.

Not only that it was also getting dark, so the chances of loosing each other was even bigger.

But they were both equally matched in a short sprint, so they stayed together pretty well.

Until Mark tripped and got a face full of snow.

"Hahahaha! Now that's an ice cold defeat!" Emily said while laughing.

Mark slowly got up with a serious expression.

"Awh why the cold face? Hahahaha!" She said while laughing even more.

Then Mark's serious expression went to a smirk and he suddenly threw a snowball at Emily.

Mark and Emily were both laughing as they threw snowballs at each other.

"Don't forget about our race Em!" Mark said as he started running again.

"Don't worry! I'll snowball fight my way to victory!" Emily said as she also started running while still picking up snowballs and throwing them.

The two idiots were fooling around while racing.

Until Mark stopped for a moment, he felt as if he was being watched.

"Em, I think we should stop…...Em?" He said as he noticed that Emily wasn't there.

She didn't notice Mark had stopped, until she wanted to throw another snowball.

"Mark?" She asked out loud.

"Very funny Mark! Hiding to throw me off! It won't work!" She yelled as she figured it must be a prank.

Emily was walking backwards towards the clearing so she could spot Mark.

But she didn't, so she turned around and saw the clearing.

It was a large frozen over lake.

Emily felt the chills crawl up her spine as she saw the mountain in the distance.

It was the exact same view as in her dream.

Not only that but in that dream she and Mark were running and throwing snowballs.

Also in that dream Mark mentions that they had to find the others, meaning they were most likely lost or at least separated.

Emily tried to see the ground on the other side of the lake but there was a low fog covering it.

She couldn't see just how long that lake was.

Then there was the voice of a young girl echoing across the lake.

Emily couldn't make out what the voice said but it almost seemed as if she was calling Emily's name.

Emily felt herself stepping forward as she felt the need to check it out.

It didn't take her long to walk forward a couple of meters on the ice of the frozen lake.

The snow started falling faster and faster.

In the meantime Mark had climbed another tree to see which way to go.

He saw the lake and ran into that direction, in the hope that Emily was there.

When he was almost at the clearing he spotted a white stag.

The stag looked almost magical, with large horns.

It definitely looked out of place.

Mark wanted to follow it but he didn't since his urge to find Emily was bigger than his curiosity.

He ran towards the lake and when he arrived he saw Emily.

She was standing about six meters across the ice.

She stared into the distance and noticed that, that was how far she got before Mark yelled at her to come back.

Emily turned around and indeed saw Mark.

He was standing just outside of the tree line and had a worried expression.

"Emily! Come back!" Mark yelled.

However Emily had a different plan, she wanted to know why she had dreamt that and why she felt like she had to be somewhere at the mountain.

"Mark, come on! It's safe! You can walk on the ice! Let's check out the mountain!" She yelled back.

Al the while it still started snowing faster.

"I don't know Em! It can be very dangerous! Just get back here and let's find our way back to the others! It's getting quite dark after all!" He yelled.

"Ow come on! Dark is literally your last name so you're good! Besides this could be our only chance! And you don't have to worry about how deep the lake is since it's all solid ice!"

The two yelled back and forth on whether not to go or to just go anyway.

"Just go back to the others Mark! I'll be fine!" Emily eventually yelled.

And she started walking despite Mark's desperate calls to get her back.

Until eventually his voice was nothing more but a distant echo.

Emily turned around and just like in her dream the snow was getting worse.

It was like a snowstorm, but unlike in her dream when she turned back there wasn't an instant cave.

She had to walk all the way to the other side while being slowed down by the sudden cold wind and snowfall.

And unlike in her dream the snow didn't become less.

And she also started to have the feeling of dread.

However the feeling of having to push forward was stronger.

Meanwhile back at the other four gang members.

They were warmed up by a cosy fireplace in the luxurious restaurant.

They had just eaten their dinner and were now drinking some hot chocolate.

All of them were getting more worried by the second.

"Do you think they'll be back soon?" Jack asked.

"I'm sure they'll be fine.. They probably found some shelter somewhere and are waiting the heavy snowfall out." Micheal said to calm not only his cousin but also himself.

"Don't forget that there are people out there looking for them. They'll be fine." Lindsey added.

"I hope so.." David said while looking down, he was blaming himself for what had happened.

"Don't worry brother, I'm sure they'll be found." Lindsey said as she noticed how he felt.

"Thanks sis.." David responded.

But deep in their mind all of them were worried and started thinking about all the possibilities that could have happened.

A while later the rescue workers had returned.

They were empty handed, they didn't even find a clue on where the two were.

Now they were even more worried.

"I'm sorry but with this storm we can't possibly find them. We'll continue our search tomorrow. You're welcome to join the search then." One rescuer said.

So with heavy hearts the gang decided to try and get some sleep, that way they'd have enough energy to go all out in the search.

Jack and David went to their room and Micheal and Lindsey to theirs.

That night went by very awkwardly to say the least, since it was the first time Micheal and Lindsey had to share a room.

Not only that but they even had to share a king sized bed.

Meanwhile somewhere in the snowy woods near the lake Mark spotted the strange stag again.

It was standing on a small path through the woods.

Had Mark not seen the stag, he wouldn't even have noticed the path.

The stag moved one of it's front hooves in the snow.

Then he turned around and walked a couple of steps.

It then looked back at Mark as if to say: "Follow me."

So Mark did the only logical thing that popped up in his mind and started fallowing the stag.

Every now and then the stag would stop and look back to see if Mark was still keeping up in the harsh weather.

He was but hardly, it was cold and there was so much snow that the stag who was only a couple of meters in front of Mark was almost invisible.

It was so cold that Mark couldn't even feel his face nor feet any more.

Eventually the stag stopped and as a flash of falling snow was blown by it disappeared.

Mark was confused and stumbled to the spot where the stag last stood.

There was a door in a small cliff side.

Mark had trouble opening it because it was frozen shut.

But after a couple of tries it finally opened.

There was a small supplies room that looked like it hadn't been used in ages.

Aside from that there was a long dark hallway.

But Mark was exhausted so he decided to explore in the morning.

At least he was safe from the harsh weather.

By now you must be wondering how our other lost lamb is doing.

She had crossed the lake and also became exhausted by the weather.

But there was no shelter on the other side, only the large mountain.

So she took her chances and started the climb.

There was no way she'd make it to walk around it or back across the lake.

So she figured it was her only chance.

Besides she also still had the nagging feeling to continue onwards.

The mountain was tall with lots of slippery edge's.

During the climb Emil fell countless of times, but she was lucky.

She never fell truly off the edge.

If that would happen it would mean the end of the line.

It took her a while but finally she reached a cave halfway to the top.

She went inside.. that was it… the ice cave from her dreams…


	5. Chapter 5

**The gang and the cursed girl – Christmas special!**

 **Part Five**

Emily entered the ice cave from her dreams.

It was so cold that her shoes almost became frozen stuck on the ice within the cave.

"…..Emily…." A voice echoed through the icy tunnels.

"He-hello?" Emily called out.

"….Emily…." It sounded more distant this time.

"Wait up! I'm coming!" Emily yelled as she ran further into the cave.

Luckily the ice reflected all the light there was so, no flashlight needed!

After a while of searching and having found nothing Emily decided to finally get some rest.

She layed down one a small area that wasn't covered in ice.

She was lucky that she found that spot, otherwise she could have frozen to death in her sleep.

She fell asleep rather quickly and once again had a strange dream.

She was walking further into the cave and found a hidden room.

There was a small person hidden under a blanket crouched down in the corner.

In the dream she walked closer and was about to touch the person's shoulder.

Then before she could the voice was heard again, from that person. "….Emily…."

The figure then stood up and was about to turn around.

But before Emily could see her face, Emily woke up.

"….Emily…Emily..." Apparently the voice had been calling her in real life.

"Hold up! This time… this time for sure I'll find the child who keeps calling me!"

So while Emily was busy chasing a random creepy kids voice, Mark was finally awake again.

He grabbed his flashlight and started wandering the long sets of hallway's.

After a couple of jump scares from small rodents that lived there, Mark stumbled across another door.

He forced the door open and found himself standing at the foot of a mountain.

Directly in front of a small cave opening.

He entered the darkened cave out of curiosity.

I know these two lost lambs aren't the smartest, one goes after a creepy voice while the other wanders into a random darkened cave out of curiosity.

Don't worry though they'll be way more stupid as the story progresses!

Anyhow, at first he was still in need of a flashlight.

That is until he reached a certain altitude.

Because as soon as he seemed to have almost reached the top the cave was covered in ice that reflected the light from outside.

He thought it looked very pretty.

However there was one light that seemed out of place…

Mark wanted to walk towards it but right as he was three feet away it started moving.

"What the? Okay….weird light..." But even though Mark thought this he still wanted to follow it since it seemed important.

So our goofy squirrel loving maniac started wondering around, while following the light inside a magical icy cave.

Meanwhile back at the hotel.

Lindsey had just woken up to find herself all tangled up with Micheal.

She was blushing so much that she would be even more red that David's blood!

Speaking of which!

David had also woken up, but to Noel that had called the hotel rooms phone.

She told him that the rescue workers had already started looking for a bit and had just come back with a clue.

So David ran as fast as he could to the desk while dressing himself on the way out of his room.

However he ran too fast over the stairs and tripped.

He had accidentally cut himself on the tumbling way down.

That's why I made the connection of David's blood, that and one other reason. :p

Anyhow!

He finally reached the desk while his arm was covered in blood.

"Noel! I'm here!" David said while panting.

"Oh goo...d… OMG Are you alright?!" She said as she hurried over to David.

"I'm fine Noel.. I just tripped and I guess this is the result.." David said while putting up a smile.

Noel put some bandages around David's arm while she explained their situation.

Apparently the two man that David talked to earlier had sworn they saw someone climb the mountain.

They were going to check out the mountain, because according to them a dangerous creature resides there.

The rescue workers said that they were going to make their way there in half an hour.

So if David and the others wanted to help searching he should get everyone ready.

I guess you could say that he needed to act faster than that his blood was running.

So he practically flew to the others and woke them all up, while Noel was telling him to be careful.

He woke up Jack first and the two of them then were at Lindsey's and Micheal's room.

David knocked frantically on the door while Jack shouted his usual top of the morning.

All that frantically knocking caused David's blood to run dry faster and so did his patience.

"Guy's come on! Stop doing whatever you two love birds are doing and get dressed! Quickly!"

All that ruckus caused Micheal to finally wake up.

Let's just say that he also became very red, just as red as David's blood that had almost completely run dry.

Okay enough with the David's blood jokes, I'll get more serious…. (Yeah right..)

Anyhow, Micheal and Lindsey managed to untangle themselves and got dressed.

All four of our not yet so lost lambs came to the lobby where Noel and the rescuers were waiting.

"Alright! Are we all set?" Noel asked, who by the way was wearing overly exaggerated survival clothing.

"Uhm… are you going on a survival journey lass?" Micheal asked while frowning.

"Oh well technically yes! I'm helping with the search!" Noel said as she opened the front door and already stood outside.

Jack had trouble holding his laugh in because she looked ridiculous.

And because Jack was laughing so did Lindsey.

They both tried to keep it in as much as possible, so they wouldn't hurt Noel's feelings.

After all she was only doing what she thought was best.

Unfortunately her survival skills weren't as over the top as her outfit.

She had stumbled and fallen more often than Micheal after being completely wasted thanks to his once a year rum week.

And trust me.. that is a lot..

A pirates life for him I guess…

Anyway, they wondered the forest for hours before they finally reached the lake.

They still had to cross it and then climb the mountain.

But let's safe that fun adventure for the next chapter!

For now why don't we go back to Emily, our lost lamb number one.

She had found the same hidden room as in her dreams.

And just like in her dreams there was a small person sitting in the corner with a small blanked.

Emily wasn't so sure if she should make her presence known.

She figured it was now or never to find out who kept appearing in her dreams.

"H-hiya… M-my name is Emily Jones...I'm kinda lost… could you help me out?" She said trying to sound as polite as possible.

The person stood up and slowly turned around.

The part of the blanket that was covering her face also fell off.

Emily couldn't believe it.

There was in fact a young child.

" _Who would leave a child alone in there conditions?_ " Emily thought to herself.

"M-my n-name is Viola L-lockwood." She said, she sounded scared.

"Well it seems like we're both a little lost. It is nice to meet you Viola! So why are you out here? And where are your parents?" Emily asked.

"I-I… Don't have any parents.. or family for that matter…" She answered.

"Ow….I am so sorry! Wow uhm this is awkward.." Emily said while apologizing sincerely.

"Don't worry it's okay, I-I know you didn't m-mean anything by i-it." She answered back.

"You must be freezing out here, how long have you been out here anyway?" Emily asked.

"I-I don't know… I-I was chased here by bad people who want to hurt me..."

"What? Why? Who are those people?" Emily asked.

"Villagers from the village I used to live in… T-they… t-think that I'm a.. w-witch."Voila said.

Emily looked at Viola confused.

"T-they say witches are evil… but they're not all evil are they?" Viola then asked.

"I do not know the answer to that, but I believe there are good witches out there.. if there are any.." Emily said while looking around her nervously.

"I think witches are what you make them out to be!" She then continued.

"O-oh! Well in that c-case! I think they are w-wonderful beings full of m-magic and hope!" Viola said happily.

"Great! Well I for one believe that there's a piece of magic in everything so, naturally it can be positive! And I think the world would be boring without it!" Emily said.

"R-really? There's magic in everything?" Viola asked with her eyes sparkling of excitement.

"Yes my child, one only needs the right view in order to see it! For example! I think that Christmas has an element of magic! All the pretty lights and beautiful decorations, oh and how everyone seems to be happy! People are more kind and generous! It's simply magic!" Emily explained.

"Wow" Viola said full amazement, but then suddenly she had a sad expression."I wish I could celebrate Christmas.."

"Why can't you celebrate Christmas?" Emily asked while looking puzzled.

"Well… y-you kind of celebrate it with family.. and not only that, but t-those villagers are still after me..." Viola said while looking down.

Right after she said that there were two voice heard within the cave's network.

"Oh no! It's them!" Viola said as she hid behind Emily.

Emily on instinct grabbed Viola's arm and started running.

While running Emily managed to comfort Viola by saying: "Don't worry, I won't let those men so much as touch you! And about that Christmas dilemma, don't worry either! I could be your new family to celebrate Christmas with! I-if you want that of cause!"

Viola's scared face turned to a happy smile.

"I would love that…. Mommy!" She said with a happy smile.

That was not exactly what Emily had in mind but seeing that happy smile she just couldn't say no.

"Alright daughter! But let's first focus on getting out of here." Emily said back with a kind smile.

And the two continued running away from the two voice's.


	6. Chapter 6

**The gang and the cursed girl – Christmas special!**

 **Part Six**

So Emily and Viola ran as fast as they could.

"Mom! This way!" Viola said as she pulled Emily with her.

They were in the half covered room, the one Emily had dreamed about earlier.

The mans voices were getting closer by the second.

So Emily faced the only entrance and exit there was to the room.

She kept her eyes on it while Viola carefully pulled Emily along.

" _To where?_ " Emily thought as she remembered that there was only dead end.

Then Emily saw the outlines of two man holding torches through the mirror like ice.

A cold chill went over her spine as she saw the ice becoming more look through as the torches came closer and lit up the cave.

Then one of the man stopped and stared at the icy half look through wall.

He pointed out direction.. that's when Emily knew that they saw them too.

She kept her eyes on them and took a deep breath, knowing that she'd have to face them.

Alright how about a bit of a cliff hanger!

Speaking of!

Micheal, Lindsey, David, Jack, Noel and four rescue workers where climbing the mountain.

They had passed the icy lake with a special boat, equipped with drills up front to break the ice.

And now they had to climb all the way up to the entrance.

Luckily they had safety equipment, otherwise Noel would have died by now.

She fell so many times that even Jack was better at climbing and he has a huge fear of heights.

Halfway up they decided to take a break and rest for a bit.

Climbing the mountain would take a whole day.

So you can imagine that quite some time had passed already.

In the meantime Mark was wondering around the mountain and followed the light.

It let him to a solid ice wall.

Mark frowned as the light went through the solid wall.

"Uhm…. So far my light chase I guess… Oh well I'd prefer chasing someone else anyways."

Just as Mark was ready to turn around and head back out he heard a noise from behind him.

When he turned around there was a small hallway in the ice wall.

"Oh hello, you weren't here before.." Mark said out loud as he entered the mysterious newly opened up hallway.

It was a very narrow hallway but Mark managed to squeeze himself through.

Mark shivered as the cold ice pressed against his body.

Finally he entered a larger tunnel, he was shivering all over as his clothing was slightly wet by the ice.

Then the light flew around him for a bit and glowed a bright orange/red color.

It felt warm.. like fire.. and it almost instantly dried his clothes.

Mark wanted to hug the warm light but before he could it continued.

Mark quickly followed it.

So shall I end the cliffhanger?

They all died! Whahahaha! …...Kidding!

Anyways, where was I?

Oh yes, lost lamb number one and the slightly creepy yet not so creepy kid!

Emily felt her heart beating against her chest and her breath was on pause.

"Close you eyes.." Viola then said.

"What? Why would I do that? Those men?!" Emily argued.

"Trust me on this mom!" Voila said back.

Emily doubted but she'd know if the man got too close, so she did as she was asked.

She felt Viola grab her hand more tightly and she felt herself being pulled along.

Emily got the feeling that the room was larger than she had originally thought since she thought that by now they'd hit the dead end.

Emily got a chill all over as she felt nothing but cold.

The only warmth she got was from Viola's hand who was still holding on to hers tightly.

Then the cold feeling faded away.

"It's okay mom, open your eyes. We're safe." Viola said in a relieved tone.

Emily opened her eyes and they were in a completely different area of the mountain.

It was slightly darker and it seemed to be very hidden and cut off from most other tunnels within the mountain.

"How did you-?" Emily was cut off by Viola. "I know this place! But I'd appreciate it if we drop this subject."

"Oh… uhm okay?" Emily said with a frown.

Emily then looked around the room.

There was a small bag with some crayons, paper, a stuffed white rabbit and a picture.

There were also three small boxes with suplies like food, water and blankets.

" _I can't believe this child managed to survive on her own like this.._ " Emily thought to herself.

The cave became darker as the light faded from outside, night was just around the corner.

Micheal, Linds, David, Jack and the others finally made it to the top.

Well almost there was one small ledge on a meter or two left to climb.

"Let's set up camp and search the cave's network tomorrow." One of the rescuers suggested.

Micheal and the other didn't actually want to sleep yet..

Their friends had been missing for two full day's now, they only had four more day's left.

(Remember how I said one whole week, well I meant Six full day's and on the seventh day they'd return home for their family on second Christmas day.)

Anyways they went to set up camp and after a good while they finally fell asleep.

While Emily and Viola got comfortable in their hiding spot.

Emily was very curious about that picture she had seen in the bag.

She became even more curious when Viola grabbed it and held it tight.

"Who's on the photo?" Emily finally asked.

Viola looked at her with a sad look.

"Oh geez! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to sound rude!" Emily quickly said as she realized her mistake.

There was a tense silence for a bit.

Then Viola broke the silence. "It's a picture of me and my sister.."

"Oh.. can I see?" Emily asked.

Viola handed her the picture.

It looked like a very old photo but she could see that Viola resembled her sister a lot!

"Wow you look a lot like her! Was she a nice sister?" Emily asked trying to start a conversation.

"Thanks mom! And yes she was the best! If my dad was still at work she'd read me bedtime stories! Her stories were the best!" Viola said with excitement.

"Do you like stories?" Emily asked, she remembered how she would always make up stories with her brother and cousin when they were younger.

Viola smiled. "Of cause I do! Oh mam? Can you tell me a bedtime story?"

Before Emily could answer Viola suddenly spoke again. "Oh how rude of me! I didn't even ask if it's okay to call you mom! Is.. is that okay?"

"Well of cause! Call me what you'd like! Now as for that story, get comfortable and enjoy!"

So Viola grabbed some blankets and went to sit next to Emily.

She put the blankets over both of then and rested her head on Emily's shoulder.

"Okay mom! I'm comfortable!" Viola finally said.

"Alright then let the story begin.. Once upon a time there was a wise owl, who traveled the world in search of knowledge! The owl searched everywhere in the land and became well known for it's knowledge. The animals of the kingdom began to respect the wise owl but that respect wasn't shared by everyone. Kludd an evil black eagle wanted to use that knowledge for bad things. He along with his followers, mostly bats had captured the wise owl." Emily made a dramatic pause for a second.

Viola gasped as she saw the epic air battle before her eyes.

Emily smirked, she enjoyed to tell stories and see people's reactions to it.

"However what the Kludd didn't count on was the owl's apprentice, a small Falcon. He was an American kestrel, one of the smallest falcons in existence! He followed the bats and found their hideout where they kept his master. He was just about to enter when he saw one of the bats being thrown out. The other bats accused him of betrayal because he gave some of his food to the master owl. The young falcon approached the bat and befriended him, together they thought of a plan to let the master owl escape. They had set everything in motion, they'd make their move when the evil guys wanted to bring master owl to a different hideout. The next morning they waited for their cue. Master owl was trapped in a cage and multiple bats were flying with it. The good bat who was named Chuck flew ahead and started a distraction. In the meantime the young falcon had to grab the key that none other but the black eagle himself was holding. He snuck up behind the giant bird and reached for the key." Emily made another dramatic pause.

"Well?! Continue please?! I wanna know what happens next!" Viola said as she was excited to hear the rest.

"Hahaha you sound just like a friend of mine! When I write stories she always pushes me to continue. Which is good otherwise I'd never finish them! Hahaha! Anyways Just as the falcon got a hold of the key, the black eagle turned around and lashed out at him. The young falcon flew away instantly know that he couldn't outmatch the eagle. He flew as fast as he could, yet still the eagle was catching up. The master owl yelled at his apprentice to remember his training. That was to use his brains, he needed to think of a plan and fast. Then he remembered another lesson, use the terrain against your opponents. Making them basically fight themselves. So he flew, dodging tree after tree. So did the eagle. Then he flew in a small opening that the eagle would not fit in. However eventually the falcon would have to come out. At least he bought himself some ti-time." Emily yawned at that last word.

Then she noticed that Viola was also falling asleep.

Emily yawned the rest of the story. "The falcon flew out of the tiny space and went flying close to the water… Then just as he expected the crocodiles woke up.. all he had to do was to get them to chase the eagle instead of him.. Because he was so tiny he could easily hide and all the crocodiles had eyes for was the eagle… they chased him just as planned and the young falcon came back.. he scared off the other bats using his enlarged shadow.. Then he saved his master with Chuck's help and so Chuck was allowed to become an apprentice as well and with the three of them….*yawn* lived happily ever after….." Viola fell asleep after hearing the happy ending and so did Emily.

Meanwhile Mark still followed the light.

Then the light suddenly vanished.

Mark looked around for a bit before noticing a different light.

Very different, it looked as if it was coming from a nearby fire, like a torch.

Then he heard two voices, he quickly hid since they sounded angry.

"Where the hell did they go to? Two blond haired girls in an ice cave shouldn't be that hard to find!

" _Emily?_ " Mark thought to himself.

He waited to the two man to move on.

"Man what has she done this time?" He questioned as he came out of hiding spot.

He wondered around for a bit until he found a warmer spot within the cave and rested his feet.

He wasn't exactly tired as in falling asleep but he felt his feet hurt from walking all day.

Then very early in the morning the light reappeared before Mark.

"Oh there you are friend!" Mark said as he stood up and started walking towards it again.

The light flew pretty quickly, Mark had to run in order to keep up.

It then turned the corner to a very secluded area.

Then Mark noticed two people seemingly sleeping.

To his surprise he saw that it was Emily!

"Em! Em!" Mark shouted as he ran to the girls.

"Urg… oh morning...Mark..." Emily said while rubbing her eyes still half asleep.

She finally had a normal night's rest.

"Em! You're alright! And who's this?" Mark asked.

Viola was already awake when Mark came in.

"My name is Viola! Nice to meet you! Are you a friend of my mom?" She asked.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Mark! ….wait WHAT?! Did you just call Emily MOM?!" He responded.

"Y-yeah… that's a long story. She kinda lost her family and I promised to take care of her." Emily explained to Mark who was freaking out.

"Are you and mom close?" Viola then asked Mark.

"Well, yeah! We even live in the same house!" Mark answered.

"Oh then you could be my dad!" Viola said while smiling widely.

Emily and Mark both blushed.

"I suppose I could be!" Mark then said with a smile.

Viola was so happy, she finally found a family willing to care for her.

"Well, let's get out of here! I saw two men earlier who seemed to be looking for you two and they seem pretty angry.. Fortunately I know another way out!" Mark said as he took the lead.

Emily was still caught of guard by Mark now being the dad.

So while they walked Viola explained why they were after them and what had happened.

Meanwhile the others had finally woken up too and just entered the cave.


	7. Chapter 7

**The gang and the cursed girl – Christmas special!**

 **Part Seven**

So Micheal, Jack, David, Lindsey and the others entered the cave.

They heard echoed voices.

"There they are!" was all that they could make out.

They ran in trying to find out where the voices were coming from.

Unfortunately for them all sounds echoed around the icy maze.

They eventually accidentally split up.

Micheal and Jack had run up ahead and got separated from the others.

They found the hidden area with three boxes of supplies, but no bag.

Then Jack noticed a blanket that seemed like it had been used recently.

They followed the trail.

Meanwhile Noel was complaining about the cold and on how irresponsible Jack and Micheal are for just running off.

David looked at his sister as he noticed she was also getting quite irritated with Noel.

She's nice and all but not capable to keep it together when things get tough.

"I mean how did the first two even end up lost?!" Noel argued.

"Maybe they just didn't want to hear you wining!" Lindsey said with an irritated look.

"Are you suggesting that this is my fault?!" Noel said while being offended.

"No, I'm merely hinting at your wining. Because that isn't going to get our friends back. Nor would it make the weather nicer to us." Lindsey said as she shoulder bumped past Noel.

"Geez, someone's got a grudge.." One of the rescue workers said.

"Do you think this is bad? Trust me you don't want to see my sister angry.." David replied.

"Guys, I can hear everything you say!" Lindsey said.

No one spoke a word after that they were just eager to find the others now.

Meanwhile Emily, Mark and Viola ran through the mountain.

They were going lower and lower.

Eventually they needed flashlights to light their way as the reflected light couldn't reach that far in the mountain.

They eventually reached an old looking door.

"This is it!" Mark said as he struggled to get it open.

They quickly ran inside and closed the door behind them.

They now entered the tunnels that Mark had originally came from.

The two man who tried to follow then ended up loosing them out of sight since they failed to see the door, so they headed back.

After a while Micheal and Jack ran down that same part.

They looked around for clues on their friends whereabouts.

Then they noticed the door and the ice that was previously holding it closed was broken.

They knew that it meant that their friends went that way.

They decided to wait of the others and catch their breath again.

In the meantime Lindsey, David and the others were moving closer.

They then heard two men approaching.

"Howdy! Say you adventurers didn't come across two girls did ya? One young girl and one young adult, both blond hair." One of the men said.

"Uhm no, but we're looking for our friend who happens to have blond hair." David said.

"In that case your friend must be pretty stupid. These caves are home to a monster and the seemingly harmless young girl is that monster. If your friend was the one with her then she's doomed." The other men said.

After a bit of a conversation the men went on their way.

Lindsey and the others continued walking until they met up with Micheal and Jack again.

David explained to the others what happened earlier when they met the men.

Micheal then told the others about the door and that he thinks they must have gone that way.

So the group decided to follow their footsteps as they entered.

In the meantime Emily, Mark and Viola had already found their way out of the mountain.

They decided to venture further back into the snowy woods.

However due to another blizzard they couldn't see where they were going.

But then again staying in a deathtrap mountain wasn't a very good idea either.

They walked for what felt like hours, but in reality it was only a few minutes.

Viola then stopped walking.

She pointed north-west for some odd reason.

When Mark and Emily's eyes followed to where she was pointing they saw the strange white stag.

"This is the animal that let me to that 'secret' entrance of the mountain." Mark then said in surprise.

"Do you think we should follow it?" Emily asked.

But before she could answer Viola was already walking towards the white stag.

Emily and Mark ran to her side and also followed the stag.

"This creature… It's the ghost of a past life..." Viola said with a blank expression.

(Spoiler alert)

Now what she meant by that might not be as obvious as it seems.

It's actually a reference to future events in future stories, but sssssh you didn't hear that from me.

(End spoiler)

They continued walking and somewhere soon after Emily's scarf was blown off by the harsh wind.

She wanted to go back and get it but it was blown pretty far away, the wind was carrying it with ease.

" _Too bad.. that was my favorite scarf.. I had it as long as I can remember._ " Emily thought to herself.

This much was true, when she was a baby she used it as a blanket.

She has no memory of how she got it but it had been there all her life.

It also had a small label on it which read: C. White.

Emily figured it must have been the makers name and didn't pay much attention to it.

Meanwhile the others had finally found their way out of the mountain.

They tried to find footprints but they were already snowed over by the time they got there.

They wondered around in the harsh storm until Jack's eye caught something.

He noticed a familiar red color halfway buried in the snow.

Once he picked the half frozen item up he recognized it as Emily's scarf.

She had never once left it behind before only when she washed it.

The scarf had become her icon, her signature if you will.

In fact it was so important to her that she sometimes even worn it when she had nightmares again, just to calm herself down.

No one knew why but it had become part of her in a way.

"Guy's Emily was here!" Jack said while holding the scarf up.

Everyone, with Micheal in particular grew worried faces.

Micheal knew all too well what that scarf meant to his sister.

For hours they were searching trough the freezing weather.

Only to end up heading back to the hotel, everyone was out of energy and setting up camp in a weather like this was a no go.

So with no other choice, or leads the tired group returned to the hotel.

There Noel arranged a meal for all those who helped searching.

Soon after that they all returned to their rooms and just crashed on the bed.

They didn't even bother to switch to their pajamas's they just wanted to sleep.

Only Micheal had trouble falling asleep, he knew that his sister was capable of handling herself but he just couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong, very, very wrong.

Lindsey noticed this and sat down next to Micheal.

"Hey stalker boy? How are you holding up?" Lindsey asked unsure of how to comfort people.

"I'm fine.. just worried. I have a strange feeling. Something isn't right." He said while thinking.

"I'm sure they're fine! I mean Mark may not look like it but in the face of danger he always finds a way out, besides even if he doesn't know what he's doing Em can always correct him. You know how those two are, They'll be fine. Now you won't be! If you don't get any sleep! So let's go to sleep." Lindsey said, finding th right words to comfort Micheal.

"You're right! Getting myself this worried won't accomplish anything. You really are a mystery girl." Micheal said while laying down next to Lindsey.

"Goodnight Micheal."

"Goodnight Linds"

In the meantime Mark, Emily and Viola were trying to get as far away from the mountain as possible by following a strange white stag.

They were allowed to come closer to it now and noticed that it wasn't completely white.

The stag had glowing spots, the color of glow with each dot different.

It looked like a spirit animal, a caretaker of all the life in that area.

It's horns sometimes even glowed, showing more of their surroundings.

After a while of wondering around the stag led them to a village.

He was standing near the edge of a small cliff close to the village.

"That's where my home was.." Viola said with a sad tone.

"Why would it lead us here?" Mark asked.

"Because the forest is in danger.. Being called a witch is not the only reason why they're after me. The major of the village wants to buy the forest so they can extent their village and use all the trees for things like paper. I know where their allowance letter is, they manipulated some higher up to write it and now.. well the higher up regrets it but can't take it back.." Viola explained.

"Huh.. would be a shame if something were to happen to that little piece of paper.." Emily said with a smirk.

"Em.. What are you planning?" Mark asked.

"They're hunting us anyways, might as well give them a reason to do so right? I say we sneak into the village and burn that piece of paper.." Emily continued her smirk turning into a wide grin.

"Alright! I'm in! What about you kiddo?" Mark then said.

"Mom, Dad, you two are the best parents ever! Let's do this!" Viola then said also widely grinning.

"Alright so here's the plan….." Emily said as she drew her plan in the snow.

The stag in the meantime kept it's eyes on the village.

Meanwhile somewhere in the forest.

"Maybe we should return home." One man said.

"Nigel, we don't have time for that! We have to find them! You know what's at stake." The second man said.

"Bruce, they're long gone man. Let's just go back and continue tomorrow." Nigel said.

After a bit of an argument the two finally decided to head back.

They passed the familiar way back home and walked near the side of a small cliff.

Eventually Nigel stopped walking.

"Bruce! Bruce! Look! I found something!" He yelled as he pointed at odd drawings in the snow.

"Bruce! Hurry up! Before it gets snowed over!" Nigel yelled even louder.

Bruce ran over and he saw the drawing too.

"Heh, looks like we have ourselves some visitors in our village." Bruce said with an evil smile.

Yes, the two men who I finally decided to give names found Emily's plan.


	8. Chapter 8

**The gang and the cursed girl – Christmas special!**

 **Part Eight**

The night had finally passed.

The sun broke through as yet another day of searching the woods came to pass for our friends.

Noel had arranged breakfast for them and soon after that they would go outside to look for their friends again.

With two days left to find their friends they became more desperate.

Micheal kept his sisters scarf with him, he was wearing it and held it with one hand so it couldn't fall off.

They asked more rescue workers to search so there were four teams.

David, Jack, Micheal and Linds were divided over these teams, because they knew their friends and could easily keep in contact.

They each choose a direction, Lindsey went north, Jack went west, David searched east and Micheal went south.

However the forest was huge, the two lost lambs could be anywhere for all they knew.

Of cause Emily, Mark and Viola had sneaked into the village.

They passed the guards with ease, since they assumed that the three were travelers.

Viola wore Emily's hoody so that she could hide her face.

What they didn't know it that Nigel and Bruce had now reached the village as well.

Their plan was that Mark and Viola would hide near a back window that Viola had talked about.

In the meantime Emily would distract the major and his bodyguard.

Emily was acting as if she was a starting farmer who had lost of questions.

Some of her questions were: "If a cow laughed really hard... would milk come out of her nose? If animals could talk, which would be the rudest?"

Meanwhile Mark and Viola sneaked in through the window and went into the major's room.

"Oh I have a funny question too! What did the farmer say when he lost one of his cows?" Emily said to continue the distraction.

"Oh uhm no idea? What would they say?" The major asked.

"What a miss-steak." Emily said.

The major ended up laughing so hard that Mark and Viola could hear it within the majors room.

They were struggling with a safe, at first the major didn't keep it there but after Viola had seen it he bought a safe and put it in there.

"I see you're a man of good humor mister major! I've got another one for you. Where do farmers send their kids to grow?" Emily continued.

"No idea! Where?" The major asked eagerly.

"The kinder-garden." Emily said as the major bust into laughter again.

"Where did the blond girl hid the child?" A male voice then asked from behind Emily.

"Whale… I think it's about time for me to leave.. Alpaca my things and uhm go the otter way.." Emily said as the animal puns just came one after another.

"Oh no, I don't think so missy."Bruce said as he grabbed her arm.

"H-Hey! Let go!" Emily said as she ended up fighting the man.

However the man managed to push Emily over against a table, her blood started slowly dripping down her face as she looked to be knocked out.

Mark and Viola heard the ruckus and instantly knew something was wrong.

They had just managed to break open the vault and took the letter.  
Mark hid the letter in his jacket.

They then opened the door only to be met by two shotguns to their faces.

The major looked shocked by this whole event but watched it play out.

Emily stumbled back up from behind the man and looked at Mark.

Mark knew what to do.

He secretly passed the letter to Viola behind hid back.

Viola looked at the two and started to understand they went for plan B.

Emily then grabbed Bruce from behind and Mark tried to fight Nigel and the bodyguard of the major.

Viola started running for the front door.

The major himself tried to catch her but luckily failed.

Viola managed to escape.

Then Bruce moved backwards and slammed Emily against the wall while she hung on to his back.

As soon as she let go he went over to Mark by surprise and knocked him out with the back of his gun.

When Bruce turned back however he saw that Emily had also ran out of the front door.

The men still managed to capture Mark though.

They took him to the serif's office and held him imprisoned there.

Meanwhile Micheal spotted the white stag, the stag.

The stag had grabbed the scarf and ran off.

Micheal chased it as fast as he could but whenever he'd almost loose the stag out of sight it would wait for him.

It made him walk North instead of South.

Meanwhile Jack also perused something, a strange light.

The light started guiding him as he pursued the light.

It made him walk back too.

(And yes it is the same light as Mark had seen)

David on the other hand heard a voice, it sounded like child.

It was calling out to him, as if asking for help.

At first he tried to ignore the voice, thinking he had gone insane since he was the only one to hear it.

But after a while it drove him mad and he started perusing as well.

(You can probably guess what happens next.)  
Lindsey spotted someone in the corner of her eye's.

Once she looked her eye's on the person it looked like a child.

However she could only see the outline.

Lindsey called out and in response the shadowy figure waved her over.

So Lindsey followed the child.

All four signs started moving faster further away from their pursuers.

Until all for sighs were at the same spot.

They quickly vanished as soon as their pursuers came close.

Micheal was the first to arrive and picked up his sisters scarf again that was dropped on the spot.

Then out of nowhere Jack ran straight into Micheal.

Not long after David tripped and fell onto the two Irish guy's who were just about to stand back up.

"Wow you guy's are.. uhm.. I ship it." Lindsey said as she walked up to the sight.

She quickly took out her phone and took a picture.

"Bloody hell guys. What are you all even doing here?" Micheal asked as he pushed the other two off and stood back up.

"I followed a weird light! What are you doing here?" Jack said.

"Strange.. I followed a child's voice.." David added.

"I followed a child's outline!" Lindsey said as she helped her brother back up.

"...Guys.. I followed a white deer… something tells me this isn't coincidence." Micheal said.

They all were frozen in fear/thought.

They decided that the best cause of action was to stick together as something had brought them together.

The gang are not strangers to danger and supernatural things.

On their investigations they often experienced things they couldn't explain.

Then Micheal saw the white stag again, it was the only thing out of the four that didn't vanish, it simply dropped the scarf and waited behind some trees.

"That's the deer!" Micheal then said.

The other three looked over and saw it as well.

"I hate to break it to you cousin, but technically it's a stag." Jack said.

"Jack! We don't have time for that! Do we follow it?" Micheal responded.

"Me and my brother vote yes!" Lindsey said.

"Sis you can't just decide for me!" David responded.

"Sure I can! I mean I just did!" Lindsey answered.

"Urg, you hang out to much with Em." David said.

"I agree with Linds! Let's stalk the stag!" Jack then said while playfully elbow hitting Micheal.

So they decided.

Meanwhile Emily and Viola found each other again just outside of the village back over at the small cliff.

"Mom! Where's dad?!" Viola asked.

"He got caught.. huf huf.. I'll go fetch him, you just take care of that letter.." Emily managed to say while being out of breath.

"Wait! Mom! We can better come back under the cover of night! Let's first destroy the letter together and then during the night we go back for dad." Viola said.

"...Alright.. give me the letter, I have matches with me." Emily reluctantly agreed.

So they found a small cave like area within the small cliff and put up a campfire also using the piece of paper as fuel.

Viola had soon fallen asleep before they'd have to make their move.

Emily was thinking of a plan, not just one plan..

Multiple plans just in case.

They waited there until nightfall.

Meanwhile the stag guided the others back to the hotel.

It was getting dark and they knew they'd failed again in their search.

"Oh thank goodness! The rescuers said all four of you just wondered off!" Noel said as she came running out of the hotel.

"Come quickly! We have a warm meal ready for you." Noel said as she practically pushed them inside.

They ate/played with their food.

After they'd finished they went back to bed.

However neither of them could sleep that night.

Just one day left..

Tomorrow it was first Christmas day.


	9. Chapter 9

**The gang and the cursed girl – Christmas special!**

 **Part Nine**

At the hotel, Lindsey, David, Jack and Micheal. still couldn't sleep.

Jack and David were up telling each other scary stories in their room, while Linds and Micheal were watching some TV in theirs.

Then Lindsey decided to take a bath so the went to the bathroom leaving Micheal alone.

Micheal sat on the bed in a relaxing state.

He noticed himself getting drowsy, even though he wasn't tired.

It didn't take long before he found himself dozing off.

He closed his eyes, if only for a second.

"Go to the lake..."

Micheal heard a voice talk to him suddenly.

"Wha?" Micheal tried to respond but barely any word came out.

"The lake… Go to it…." The voice said.

Micheal then looked up as he saw a ghostly figure of a young girl.

The girl had blond hair and bright glowing purple eye's.

"W-Who are you?" Micheal asked noticing his breath was so cold that it made the fog like effect.

Which was strange, since it wasn't cold at all in the hotel.

"Portwitch lake.. go there once the sun shows up..." The girl said.

"What? Why?" Micheal asked.

The girl then started to fade.

"W-Wait!" Micheal called out but it was too late, when Micheal blinked the girl was gone.

Back to Emily and Viola.

"Viola, wake up." She said softly as she gently shook Viola.

"Is it time, mom?" Viola asked as she rubbed her eyes and sat up straight.

"Yes, but before we go.. I wanted to give you something." Emily said while she took off her necklace.

"Really? Why?" Viola asked.

"It's one o'clock! Meaning it's first Christmas day! Here, I know it's not much but.." Emily was cut off as Viola hugged her.

"It's beautiful thanks mom." Viola said.

Emily put the necklace on Viola.

"Well then! Shall we rescue the prince in distress?" Emily said as she stood up.

"Yes! Let's safe dad!"Viola added.

So the two made their way into the village.

The two men were still awake, they were in the serif's office.

Emily had figured as much.

"Viola listen carefully, I'll try to bribe them to let Mark go in return for the paper." Emily said.

"But mom, didn't we burn it?" Viola asked.

"We did, but I made a fake.. hopefully it's enough to fool these guy's.. it won't fool the capital though so no worries." Emily continued.

"That's genius!" Viola said with amazement.

"Hopefully, if they don't fall for it and also capture me..if that happens, I want you to wait until those two are either gone or asleep and then get the key." Emily explained.

"Got it!" Viola said.

And thus the two were off on the rescue mission.

"Where did they go?" Bruce asked.

"What who? I was completely on my own!" Mark answered.

"Don't mess with me! I hit one of them on the head and made her bleed, now tell me where they are hiding and maybe I won't have to make you bleed also!" Bruce tried to intimidate Mark.

"Ouch be careful man, those words might actually hurt someone." Mark sarcastically replied.

This made Nigel laugh slightly, seeing someone finally stand up to Bruce.

"Arg! I don't have time for this! We'll just have to wait until your friends come to us." Bruce then replied.

That made Mark slightly worried.

"No way man, they're long gone." Mark said.

"We shall see about tha-" Bruce was cut off by the door opening.

"Ah.. welcome!" Bruce then said as he turned to the door.

"Good evening, isn't it a bit late for you to be awake?" Emily said as she casually walked in.

"Nah, I don't feel like sleeping! Have you come to turn yourself in? How nice." Bruce said.

"Nope, I came here to make a deal. A trade if you will." Emily replied.

Nigel was just watching as the two spoke.

"Oh really? A trade? How about the girl for your boyfriend?" Bruce replied.

Em sarcastically thought for a moment. "How about no. I have one offer for you. This seemingly important piece of paper for my friend, not boyfriend by the way." Emily said.

"Oh really? Well it is indeed important but we want the girl too." Bruce replied.

"She will come, I mean she tried to steal it twice now, so it will only be a matter of time. Am I right?" Emily said as if she could read his mind.

"Hahahaha, well missy you're pretty clever. But why should I believe you, what if you sent the girl away. To a safe place perhaps?" Bruce said.

"I just want my friend back, the girl doesn't concern me." Emily said as serious as possible while she felt her guilt for saying that crawling on her back.

"Don't do this Em! I'll be fine!" Mark called out.

"Mark you doofus, we got involved in something we weren't supposed to." Emily said trying to shush Mark.

"Well we can't just leave her!" Mark yelled.

Emily turned back to Bruce and ignored Mark. "Do we have a deal?"

Meanwhile back at the others.

Micheal had just told Lindsey about what had happened.

"Creepy much! Well let's tell the others and do what the voice asked, like the smart people we are." Lindsey said while clearly being sarcastic about the last sentence.

"Aye, we should tell the others and at least check it out." Micheal replied.

So they went to the others and knocked on the door.

Jack opened and welcomed them in.

"So you two couldn't sleep either?" Jack asked while sitting on his bed.

Micheal went to sit next to Jack and Lindsey next to David.

"Aye mate, but I also saw something..." Micheal started explaining what had happened to them as well.

They all seem to agree that it was disturbing but that they'd check it out.

They stayed in Jack's and David's room for a while.

After a bit they decided to start walking towards the lake since it would take a while to get there especially at night.

They sneaked through the hallway and quietly tiptoed past the lobby.

Soon they entered the cold night.

They had to use flashlights in order to find their way.

It was hard to see whether they were still on the path.

Luckily there were red poles along the path so they could recognize the snowed over path.

David had a compass on him so they knew whether they walked into the right direction.

Even so, finding their way was a challenge.

Since walking through the snow alone was already a huge challenge.

Meanwhile Noel was awake as well.

She was talking with someone on the phone.

"Yes… yes… I know… Sir, don't worry… They haven't found the path to the village yet… Yes they're still here… They're asleep in their rooms… Yes, I'm positive… Okay, I'll check.. Goodnight sir..." She then hung up.

Noel signed as she walked up the stairs.

She grabbed her hotel room spare key's and quietly opened one room.

It was empty.

"Oh no! Nononono!" Noel said as she opened another door.

That room was also empty.

She panicked and grabbed her supplies as she too started to wonder in the forest.

"Well? Do we have a deal?" Emily asked one more time.

"Alright, you've gotten yourself a deal. Now, give me the paper." Bruce said.

"First set Mark free!" Emily replied.

"Hahahaha, you're afraid I won't keep my word. Alright just don't even dare to run. Nigel!" Bruce said.

And thus Nigel unlocked the cell and guided Mark to the front door.

"Now, the paper." Bruce said while holding out his hand.

"Thank you, here you go." Emily replied as she handed him the piece of paper.

"Good doing business with you! If you happen to stumble across that girl then please inform us, she's quite dangerous you see." Bruce said.

"Really? She's just a girl, why would she be dangerous?" Mark asked.

"You two have no idea do you? Our village was plagued by bad luck all over the place, not only that but a girl of her age disappeared. We have reason to believe that her family had something to do with that. Ever since she left the village things have been going better but still. She returns from time to time and when she does, bad luck follows." Bruce explained.

"Yes! And that other time! One of our most important farms burned down and she was seen running from that building!" Nigel added.

"And you are sure it is the kid because?" Emily asked.

"Because we've seen it, we've seen their family use magic." Nigel answered.

"And that is why you murdered her family? Because they used some magic tricks?" Emily asked while frowning.

"They were evil, people were getting sick and like I said a young girl went missing. We are positive that she was killed or worse." Bruce said.

"Sorry, I just fail to believe that." Emily said while Mark nodded, agreeing with Emily.

"Heh, you better be careful missy. She's not what she seems. Mark my words, she's using you. Manipulating your mind so that you side with her." Bruce said as Emily and Mark had heard enough and left the serifs office.


	10. Last Chapter

**The gang and the cursed girl – Christmas special!**

 **Last Part**

Mark and Emily left the village while somewhere along the way Viola joined them in escaping the village.

"Em, why did you give them the paper? I'm not worth it." Mark said while looking at Emily with a serious look.

"You're worth every piece of paper Mark." Emily said making Mark blush slightly.

"Especially a fake remake!" Emily then continued with a grin on her face.

"…. Wait?! That was a fake?!" it took Mark a moment to figure out what Emily meant.

"Yep! It sure was! The original got burned." Emily answered while her grin only grew.

"No way?! We did it then! We actually did it!" Mark said while making a little victory gesture.

"Yay!" Viola cheered out loud.

"Yes we sure did! Now let's see if we can find our way back to the others! Then Viola can meet her uncles and aunt!" Emily said as she also cheered a little.

"I would love that! But…" Viola suddenly looked a bit sad.

"But what? What's wrong?" Mark asked.

"I'm afraid that I'll just bring you both in danger. I heard what the men said.. They're right you know.. In my family there were some strange happenings and my aunt in particular held a grudge against the villagers.. And even if my powers won't be dangerous to you two the villagers will. They won't stop chasing me." Viola explained.

"Wow, uhm kid.. Even if they still chase you, even if we end up being cursed. I won't give up on you. You deserve a better life." Emily responded.

"Mom, dad? Can we go to the lake?" Viola asked.

"Sure, I don't see why not! Maybe it will cheer you up!" Mark said as he took the lead.

Meanwhile the gang fought their way through the heavy snowfall.

It seemed as if the whether was holding them back.

Then the strange light appeared again.

The gang decided to follow since it seemed to be heading towards the lake.

The lake was still a while away.

But when they followed the light they noticed that the whether was less effecting them.

Almost as if the light was dodging the wind and heavy snowfall or creating a shield.

They managed to walk a lot faster now.

While Noel who was on their trail ran into a little problem, she kept hearing a loud screech.

Like some kind of owl, it sent chills down Noels spine.

But her attention then turned elsewhere.

She saw the white stag standing in the way.

"Hello.. pretty deer. I'm just going to pass and I'll be on my way." Noel said.

However the stag wouldn't let her pass.

He was blocking the way for her.

"Move! I have to get them back to the hotel!" Noel yelled as she tried to scare the stag off.

In return the stag moved his right front leg in the snow while starting to breath heavily.

It looked like he was about to charge forward.

Noel in term pulled out a dagger she held on her.

"Oh yeah! You wanna go?" She asked as she readied her weapon.

The stag then charged forward and trashed his horns around.

Noel was ready for it, she leaped out of the way and threw her knife.

The knife would have hit the stag in the back of the head but something black colored had leaped in front and blocked the knife with a large wing.

It was a giant black owl with a white face.

The area around it seemed to turn darker.

Noel gasped as she stared at the creature.

It didn't take her long before noticing that it's white face was actually a skull or mask that looked like a skull.

(Spoiler alert! It looked like an owl impersonation of death, so we got an owl looking like death and a stag seemingly life.)

Noel started running as the two beings chased her.

They herded her all the way back to the hotel.

Meanwhile Emily, Mark and Viola reached the lake as the night became lighter and dawn grew closer.

Viola walked over to the edge of the lake.

"Mom, dad.. I'm not going to bring either of in danger.. I think I'm going to travel on my own for a while.. Until I know that the villagers won't chase me.. Until I learn to control my power.." Viola said with a sad look, while she returned Emily's jacket.

"Viola, what are you saying? We can protect you!" Mark said.

"Let us help you." Emily continued.

"No, I'd hate to see you get hurt more because of me." Viola answered while looking at Emily's head wound and Mark's bruises due to the fight with the two men.

"You don't have to worry about us! We're fine!" Mark said.

"...I'd hate to see that change.." Viola said as she stepped onto the frozen lake.

"W-Wait!" Emily said as she and Mark both tried to follow but the ice broke making a split between them and Viola.

"Please, let me do this. I have to. I'll come back, I promise! As soon as I know it's safe." Viola said with tears in her eyes but a gentle smile on her face.

"No don't go!" Emily called out also with tears in her eye's.

"I'm sorry mom." Then a light appeared and started swirling around Viola.

"Mom, dad… Go back home and wait for me.. I will come back to you." Viola assured.

She then started fading into the light.

"Noooo! Wait!" Emily and Mark both yelled out.

Then with a bright flash of light Viola was gone.

Emily hugged Mark while crying and Mark hugged her back.

After a full minute of hugging they sat down on their jackets looking out over the lake as they saw the sun rising from behind the mountain.

They dried their tears and watched the sunrise, while Em put her head on Mark's shoulder.

"Mark? Em?" A familiar voice was heard from behind them.

"Brother!" Emily said as she stood up and hugged him, soon after Jack joined their hug.

Meanwhile Mark hugged David and Lindsey in a group family hug.

"Where have you guys been? What happened to you?" David asked with relief all over his face.

"Well you know that I was chasing this goofus! Then we… uhm were in the mountain and heard two man talking about a blond haired girl they were looking for so just in case we hit somewhere." Emily told them only the smallest part of the story.

She didn't know why but she didn't want to tell the other what exactly happened since she knew she'd be in trouble as soon as they'd hear what kind of dangerous things they did.

"Really? Then we just missed each other!" Jack said.

"Oh sis, we found your scarf." Micheal said as he handed Emily her scarf.

"Thanks! I was afraid I'd never see it again." Emily said with a smile.

"Now sis, how about you tell us what actually happened?" Micheal continued.

"What?" Emily asked confused, as she started thinking " _how could he have known._ "

"Em, your head is bleeding!" Micheal then said as the others noticed too.

"Oh… uhm we fell.." Emily lied.

"I'm not sure whether to believe you sis, but for now let's head back.

When they arrived at the hotel they were surprised to find someone else behind the lobby desk.

"Where's Noel?" Jack asked.

"She wanted to quit, apparently something out in the woods scared her." The new girl replied.

"Oh, well I think you're already an improvement! May I know your name?" Jack flirted.

"Thanks! My name is Zoey." The girl said.

"Zoey?" Emily asked as she appeared from behind her brother.

"Emily? Emily Jones! Hahaha I though I'd never see you again after our last… encounter." Zoey said, she then noticed that Emily was bleeding. "Wow, you look better!" She continued.

"Haha very funny, see ya around chicken-wings!" Emily said as she dragged the others along.

They went to eat at the restaurant and then to sleep at the hotel for their last night.

The others asked Emily about it and she simply replied with: "Just forget about her, we won't see her again after this."

Jack was the only one who seemed a little sad about it but quickly dropped the subject.

The next morning they were all well rested and ready to head home.

They threw their bags in the car and headed out.

When they got home their family was already there to surprise them.

They had used the spare key and put all the presents underneath the tree.

After a couple of hours of joy the gang had already forgotten about what had happened in pine forest.

Only with Emily and Mark the memory of their time with their daughter never would fade away.

Their Christmas day went by in the blink of an eye.

Soon it got dark and their family left.

Jack, Mark and David felt tired and decided enough was enough, so they went off to bed.

Leaving Emily, Lindsey and Micheal downstairs.

After a bit of drinking rum and playing board games Lindsey had passed out.

"I'll bring Linds to her room and then I'll crash in mine, goodnight." Micheal said as he yawned.

He picked up Lindsey and started making his way to the stairs.

"Sure bro! Try not to make out with Linds if she wakes up." Emily teased.

Micheal then blushed a bright red color. "Em!" He yelled as he quickly went upstairs.

He quietly put Linds in her bed and pulled her blanket carefully over her.

In the meantime Emily walked to the window and looked at the night sky.

Thinking that somewhere Viola would be looking at the same starry night.

She noticed an oddly satisfying light that flew across the sky like a falling star.

She knew deep within that Viola would be alright and she was looking forward to the day she'd return.

The end, for now.

(Hiya! That was that for this special! Perhaps in the next special Viola could return! But who knows. So that's all for now! See ya on the flip side!)


End file.
